Birmingham Children’s Hospital has thousands of supporters and fundraisers who repeatedly go out of their way to make a real difference to our children and young people. Each week we will be telling the story of one our dedicated Charity Champions to highlight the difference that they are making to the children we treat.

Charity Champion Profile

Name: Futura Group

Occupation: Automative

Home town: Oldbury

Brief description: The Futura Group team organised a charity golf day and evening dinner for 70 players and 60 guests in June at the Forest of Arden Golf Club where they raised £15,598.66 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

This week’s Charity Champion top spot is the team at Futura Group, which has raised a spectacular £15,599 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s Cancer Centre Appeal.

Fundraising began following a first-hand experience of the care given by the hospital when the daughter of a long-serving Futura contractor received treatment for leukaemia in 2012.

Since November 2013 the group has raised more than £25,000 for the hospital’s appeal through two charity golf days and a silent auction.

Sadie Badland, mother of Cassidy, aged nine, who continues to be treated at the hospital, has worked with Futura for 19 years.

She said: “The fundraising Futura has done for the hospital’s appeal has been phenomenal. My daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of six which came as a huge shock.

“As I work so closely with the team at Futura I was so humbled to hear of their fundraising plans and since 2013 they have organised some unbelievable events, raising a massive sum of money for a cause so incredibly close to my heart. I cannot fault the experience we’ve had with Cassidy at the hospital. Everything the staff have done and continue to do throughout her treatment is second to none and for that reason we want to continue doing all the fundraising we can to help improve the cancer unit. Although Cassidy’s treatment will continue until December 2014, the outlook is good, she is in great spirits and doing really well.”

Spurred on by the success of Futura’s first golf day, which raised £10,000, the team decided to make this year’s event, which took place in June, bigger and better than anything they’d ever organised previously.

Despite the rain, more than 100 people made their way to the Forest of Arden for a round of golf and an evening dinner, auction and raffle.

Managing director at Futura Group Paul Cadman said: “Birmingham Children’s Hospital is a wonderful cause and the money raised through the golf day and charity auction will directly benefit children and their families who have been affected by cancer.

“As a local business we appreciate our position and want to use it to raise as much money as possible for the children of today who are the future of tomorrow.”

Public fundraising manager for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Vikki Savery said: “We are so pleased to hear Cassidy is doing well and we want to wish her all the best with the remainder of her treatment.

“We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Futura Group for the money that they have raised so far for our Cancer Appeal and plan to raise in the future and to all of those who have supported them, not just with their fundraising, but over the last couple of years.

“The support we’ve received for our Cancer Appeal so far has been fantastic and as a hospital we aim to reach four million pounds by the end of the year.”